Kristina: Today my group and I went to John’s house. His house was flooded during Sandy, but neither his home owner’s insurance nor his flood insurance will cover the damage. Because of this, mold has developed in his house and he has to rebuild it even though his insurance is not giving him enough money to do so. Our group was told that we were going to install a floor for John, but we ended up building a shed from scratch, so that he could store all of his things in his house while it is being rebuilt, whenever that may be. Building the shed was a challenge because it was extremely windy today, so when we tried to stand the walls up, they kept failing down. The wind was so bad that it tore some of the boards from some beams that we had nailed them too. Eventually we got all four walls up, and we are going back tomorrow to shingle the roof. It was shocking to see how many people were still suffering more than a year after the storm. John was telling us about a few of his neighbors; some of them had barely started the process of fixing their houses. There is still so much to do, so I am really glad that we are here
Eve: The day started with a 45 minute drive to the work site. Initially we thought that the job consisted of installing a floor. However, when we arrived the situation became something very different and much more rewarding. We met John the homeowner, an older man about 50 years old with a wife and kids. Hurricane Sandy decimated his house, his only permanent residence. Hold told us about the battles he continues to fight with the insurance companies. Homeowners insurance says the flood insurance should pay, and flood insurance says homeowners insurance ought to. Instead of putting in a floor, we created from scratch a shed. John needed the shed to store all the items from his house so he could tear it down and completely rebuild. The weather did not exactly favor our situation since the wind kept blowing the walls over. At the end of the day the shed only needed a roof. A pretty solid result of a hard days work. I worked with Tina, Steven, Gabby, and Derek. I realized that though we all come from different backgrounds, we all had a common goal to humble ourselves by helping those who needed a break in life. We served as stewards to those who required our services. Mercy cannot live as just a five letter word, we must practice the substance within it.
Rachel:Today the group I was with went to an elderly couple's house. The Harris' house was destroyed during the hurricane due to the lagoon in the back of their house. The water was up to four feet high. They were able to get all of the renovations finished except for the painting of the outside of the house and a few spots in the front of the inside of the house. Painting was a bit of a challenge today due to the wind. The paint was splattering everywhere and getting in places that it didn't belong. The ladder I was standing on kept swaying and the paint bucket kept falling all over the property. Luckily the couple didn't seem to mind...or they didn't notice. All around us while we were working, plenty of other houses were also being remodeled and demolished. United Way informed us that the location we were in was actually the county that had the worst amount of damage. Before today, I felt a little uneasy about being on this trip but after seeing the devastation and the amount of help that is needed here, I'm really excited to get back to work.
Day one: We went to John’s house. He was a very pleasant man. We went with the intention to install floors but we ended up making a shed. It was hard work but yet fun. The only thing that made it worse was that it was very windy. It was so windy that it tore off one of the plywood walls with all the screws. Kevin, Derek, and I were trying to hold the plywood and we let Tina, Eve, Gabby and Teagle to screw it again, but this time Kevin had a Idea to giving the plywood some support. John came and went because he said that his son was sick. I had a little tiny accident, Derek and I were holding a piece of plywood and for some reason that I don’t remember I bent down to pick something off the floor and I ended up cutting my face with it, it was a small but it still hurt a lot. Besides that it was a very good day we got a lot done and I’m ready to do whatever I can to help people in Jersey.
-Steven
Deric Dabrowski
Today we went to this guy John's house to put in a floor but when we got their he wanted us to build a shed for him but the wind was blowing so hard that when we tried to put the walls up they would keep blowing over. We didn't finish building the shed yet but we got a lot done and we had fun doing it.
Ms. Corcoran: Today we worked with the volunteer staff at the Visitation Relief Center in Brick, NJ. We helped to rebuild a community garden, where people will be able to come to get fresh produce. We also helped to organize and clean up around the grounds. Another small task that we accomplished was removing debris from a deck that was torn down after the storm. I was very impressed with the amount of work that our students completed in such a short amount of time. Their work ethic was excellent and the entire group bonded right off the bat. I am very proud of them.
Kristina: Today my group and I went to John’s house. His house was flooded during Sandy, but neither his home owner’s insurance nor his flood insurance will cover the damage. Because of this, mold has developed in his house and he has to rebuild it even though his insurance is not giving him enough money to do so. Our group was told that we were going to install a floor for John, but we ended up building a shed from scratch, so that he could store all of his things in his house while it is being rebuilt, whenever that may be. Building the shed was a challenge because it was extremely windy today, so when we tried to stand the walls up, they kept failing down. The wind was so bad that it tore some of the boards from some beams that we had nailed them too. Eventually we got all four walls up, and we are going back tomorrow to shingle the roof. It was shocking to see how many people were still suffering more than a year after the storm. John was telling us about a few of his neighbors; some of them had barely started the process of fixing their houses. There is still so much to do, so I am really glad that we are here
Eve: The day started with a 45 minute drive to the work site. Initially we thought that the job consisted of installing a floor. However, when we arrived the situation became something very different and much more rewarding. We met John the homeowner, an older man about 50 years old with a wife and kids. Hurricane Sandy decimated his house, his only permanent residence. Hold told us about the battles he continues to fight with the insurance companies. Homeowners insurance says the flood insurance should pay, and flood insurance says homeowners insurance ought to. Instead of putting in a floor, we created from scratch a shed. John needed the shed to store all the items from his house so he could tear it down and completely rebuild. The weather did not exactly favor our situation since the wind kept blowing the walls over. At the end of the day the shed only needed a roof. A pretty solid result of a hard days work. I worked with Tina, Steven, Gabby, and Derek. I realized that though we all come from different backgrounds, we all had a common goal to humble ourselves by helping those who needed a break in life. We served as stewards to those who required our services. Mercy cannot live as just a five letter word, we must practice the substance within it.
Rachel: Today the group I was with went to an elderly couple's house. The Harris' house was destroyed during the hurricane due to the lagoon in the back of their house. The water was up to four feet high. They were able to get all of the renovations finished except for the painting of the outside of the house and a few spots in the front of the inside of the house. Painting was a bit of a challenge today due to the wind. The paint was splattering everywhere and getting in places that it didn't belong. The ladder I was standing on kept swaying and the paint bucket kept falling all over the property. Luckily the couple didn't seem to mind...or they didn't notice. All around us while we were working, plenty of other houses were also being remodeled and demolished. United Way informed us that the location we were in was actually the county that had the worst amount of damage. Before today, I felt a little uneasy about being on this trip but after seeing the devastation and the amount of help that is needed here, I'm really excited to get back to work.
Day one:
We went to John’s house. He was a very pleasant man. We went with the intention to install floors but we ended up making a shed. It was hard work but yet fun. The only thing that made it worse was that it was very windy. It was so windy that it tore off one of the plywood walls with all the screws. Kevin, Derek, and I were trying to hold the plywood and we let Tina, Eve, Gabby and Teagle to screw it again, but this time Kevin had a Idea to giving the plywood some support. John came and went because he said that his son was sick. I had a little tiny accident, Derek and I were holding a piece of plywood and for some reason that I don’t remember I bent down to pick something off the floor and I ended up cutting my face with it, it was a small but it still hurt a lot. Besides that it was a very good day we got a lot done and I’m ready to do whatever I can to help people in Jersey.
-Steven
Deric Dabrowski
Today we went to this guy John's house to put in a floor but when we got their he wanted us to build a shed for him but the wind was blowing so hard that when we tried to put the walls up they would keep blowing over. We didn't finish building the shed yet but we got a lot done and we had fun doing it.
Ms. Corcoran: Today we worked with the volunteer staff at the Visitation Relief Center in Brick, NJ. We helped to rebuild a community garden, where people will be able to come to get fresh produce. We also helped to organize and clean up around the grounds. Another small task that we accomplished was removing debris from a deck that was torn down after the storm. I was very impressed with the amount of work that our students completed in such a short amount of time. Their work ethic was excellent and the entire group bonded right off the bat. I am very proud of them.